How to eat for £15 a week

For some, a large chunk of their expenditure usually goes on their weekly food shop. However, there’s really no need to break the bank on your shopping bill. Here’s how you can eat for just £15 per week.

The £15 shopping list  

When it comes to food shopping, you’ll get the most for your money by following a shopping list. By doing this, you’ll avoid picking up things you don’t need, and you’ll be more mindful of how you’ll use the produce in the week ahead.  

Here’s a shopping list for under £15 based on Aldi’s prices:  

• 4 pints of semi-skimmed milk - £1.09 
• 15 eggs - £1.18  
• loaf of medium sliced wholemeal bread - 36p 
• oats - 75p  
• 5 natures pick bananas - 60p 
• large bag of white potatoes - 94p 
• 2 x tin of baked beans - 58p 
• 2 x tin of tuna - £1.18 
• jar of light mayonnaise - 41p 
• 2 x 500g beef mince - £2.98 
• spaghetti pasta - 20p 
• pasta sauce - 39p 
• 1kg chicken thighs - £1.65 
• bag of long grain rice - 45p  
• jar of curry sauce - 55p 
• tin of garden peas - 20p 
• onion - 35p 
• gravy granules - 79p 
• tin of carrots - 20p 

 TOTAL: £14.85 

Supermarkets such as Aldi and Lidl are often cheaper than places such as Tesco or Asda. However, product prices vary across supermarkets, so if you can visit multiple shops, you might be able to shop even more cheaply.  

The cheapest loaf of bread from Lidl is 49p whereas at Aldi it is only 36p. But the price of 4 pints of milk at Lidl is only £1.05 whereas at Aldi it is £1.09. This is still cheaper than Morrison’s or Asda where 4 pints of milk would cost £1.15. 

The value of batch cooking  

To make your ingredients last the entire week the best thing you can do is batch cook. On a Sunday, set your afternoon aside to cook all your evening meals for the coming week.  

You can store your meals in the fridge for up to three days, but you’ll need to freeze the ones you intend to eat later in the week. Don’t forget to take them out of the freezer the night before and defrost overnight.  

Freezing dishes will make your ingredients last longer and save you time in the evening as well. 

Menu for the week  

You can adapt the shopping list and the weekly menu to suit your own tastes, but here's an example of how you could structure your week:  

Monday  

Breakfast – 2 x eggs scrambled on 1 slice of toast  

Lunch – jacket potato with half a tin of beans (be sure to put the other half in a container in the fridge)  

Dinner – Shepherd’s pie (made with a packet of mince, half an onion, gravy granules, half a tin of carrots, half a tin of peas and mashed potato)  

Tuesday  

Breakfast – porridge and sliced banana (made with milk)  

Lunch – tuna and mayonnaise sandwich using two slices of bread  

Dinner – spaghetti bolognaise (made with a packet of mince, pasta sauce and served over spaghetti pasta)  

Wednesday  

Breakfast – 2 x poached eggs on 1 slice of toast (change up the way you have your eggs to keep them interesting)  

Lunch – jacket potato with the other half of the tin of beans  

Dinner – chicken curry and rice (made with 2/3 of the chicken thighs, half an onion and curry sauce)  

Thursday  

Breakfast - porridge and sliced banana (made with milk)  

Lunch – jacket potato with tuna mayonnaise  

Dinner – chicken and egg fried rice (1/3 of chicken thighs roasted, fried rice made with 2 x eggs and mixed with half a tin of peas and half a tin of carrots)  

Friday  

Breakfast – 2 x fried egg sandwich with 2 slices of bread  

Lunch – jacket potato with half a tin of beans (putting the other half in the fridge)  

Dinner – spaghetti Bolognaise  

Saturday  

Breakfast – porridge and sliced banana  

Lunch – egg mayo sandwich using 2 x eggs and 2 slices of bread  

Dinner – Shephard's pie  

Sunday  

Breakfast - porridge and sliced banana 

Lunch – 2 x fried eggs with homemade chips and the other half of the tin of beans  

Dinner – chicken curry  

You’re also likely to have some leftovers as well. If you don’t like these recipes, you can change up the menu to suit you.  

For more clever ideas on saving money at the supermarket read here.